Making Your Digital Content Accessible

“Accessible” means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally and independently as a person without a disability. 
- Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education 

Guiding Principles for Accessible Digital Content

It is important that our digital content - whether it be a webpage, an electronic video, or digital media - be accessible to all individuals. The technical standards UND should strive to meet are WCAG 2.1 AA. While you don't have to be familiar with the details of this standard, it is helpful to keep in mind the four principles of WCAG as you create content. The principles are: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, or P.O.U.R. 

When creating digital content or incorporating digital content into a course or webpage, you should ask whether that content is P.O.U.R.

Perceivable

Is the content perceivable for low vision, color blind, blind, and deaf users? Some important things to consider when answering are:

    1. Is color the only way information is conveyed? For example, if hyperlinks are a different color but aren't underlined, then a color blind or low vision user probably won't know that the text is a link. 
    2. Do all images have alternative text or, if purely decorative, are they marked as decorative? If not, then someone using a screen reader won't be able to access the information contained in the image. 
    3. Can you zoom in without loosing functionality or clarity? If not, then someone who needs to magnify content won't be able to view your materials.
    4. Does all video have audio descriptions or a text alternative? Often, the visual elements of a video are just as important as the spoken elements. Without audio descriptions of what is occurring on screen, blind and low vision users won't be getting the complete story.
    5. Is all audio content captioned or transcribed? If not, then a deaf or hard of hearing user won't be able to perceive that information. 
    6. Is the layout clear both visually and programatically? This means that you should use the pre-programmed heading styles for anything that visually a heading. For example, if a document or page only bolds text to make it appear as a heading, a screen reader won't interpret that text as heading and so can't accurately convey the structure of the information.

Operable

Can you navigate through the content using only a keyboard? Can you access the content with assistive technology like screen readers?

    1. An easy way to check for keyboard navigation is to try to navigate your content using only a keyboard. If you tab through your content and can't get to some elements, then someone with a mobility impairment who cannot use a mouse most likely won't be able to get to those elements either. 
    2. If content and documents are formatted properly and the content is perceivable, the content will most often be operable by assistive technology.

Understandable

Is the content easy to follow? Can the audience easily understand how to operate with the user interface? 

Robust

Is the content robust enough to be interpreted by a wide variety of users, including those who use assistive technology or those using a different web browser? 

Accessibility for Specific Formats

While the guidance in the following sections is a good place to start and will catch general accessibility barriers, please be aware that it is not an exhaustive list. More detailed guides are available in the Additional Resources section. 

Media

Video, audio, and synchronized videos are all important ways of presenting information that rely on sensory characteristics. To make this content accessible, audible and visual information will need to be conveyed in an equally effective alternative format. For example: 

  • An audio-only recording, such as a podcast, should have an accurate transcript that includes not only what is said, but also the identity of the speaker, important inflections, and relevant sound effects.
  • Video-only media should have accurate audio-descriptions or written descriptions. These descriptions should include all of the important information as well as descriptions of scenery, actions, expressions, etc. that are part of the presentation. 
  • Synchronized media (video + audio) should have accurate captions that include sound effects and are synchronized with the video. The media should also have audio descriptions to convey important information about visual elements. 

When the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such, alternatives are not required. 

Video should also avoid rapid flashes (three or more in one second) or exceed the general flash and red flash thresholds. If flashing content can't be avoided, alert your audience prior to showing the video. 

Word Document

Word processing documents should be accessible for assistive technologies, such as screen readers, as well as readers who are low vision or color-blind. This means that:

  • Color should never be the only means of conveying information. For example, a graph should never rely on color as the only way of labeling data. 
  • There should be sufficient color contrast between the text and the background.
  • Headings should be structured in a hierarchal way. When structuring your heading, it is important to use the Microsoft Word style to ensure the document is accessible for assistive technology users.
  • Text should be bolded using the "Strong" style and italicized using the "Emphasis" style in order to make this information accessible for assistive technology users.
  • The font should be a standard font, no smaller than 11 point.
  • Lists should be made using the list feature. 
  • Images should have alternative text or, if the image is complex and requires a description of more than 120 characters, the description should be placed in surrounding text, footnote,or an appendix. 

Microsoft word has an accessibility checker. In most versions, it is located under the review tab. While the checker does not catch everything, it does catch some things and provides helpful explanations of why a feature is inaccessible and how to fix it. 

PDFs

The easiest way to create an accessible PDF is to first create the content as an accessible document in another format and then, if necessary, convert it to a PDF. If a PDF contains scanned text, you must use optical character recognition (OCR) to convert the scanned image into searchable text before addressing accessibility in the document. Most of the criteria for accessible word processing documents is applicable to PDFs. Other PDF accessible characteristics include: 

  • Appropriate tagging and structuring. Document structure tags in a PDF define the reading order and help identify headings, paragraphs, sections, tables, and other page elements. The elements should not only be tagged correctly but also tagged in the correct reading order. 
  • Document language and Title Labeled. This can be done in the file's properties.
  • Using text rather than images of text

PowerPoint

The accessibility considerations for word documents and PDFs also largely apply to PowerPoint files. To make an accessible PowerPoint, you should:

  • Use the accessibility checker.
  • Use a standard font, no smaller than 16 point.
  • Never use color as the only means of conveying information.
  • Verify there is sufficient contrast between the background and the foreground.
  • Provide alternative text for images. 
  • Use text instead of images of text when possible.
  • Use built-in formatting features.
  • Verify reading order.

Additional accessibility considerations unique to PowerPoint include:

  • Slide Animations and Transitions
    • Unnecessary animations and slide transitions can be distracting to audience members and should only be used if the animation serves a purpose (e.g., revealing an answer to a quiz question).
    • Screen readers may read the content twice if animations are on the slide.
  • Captioning
  • Sharing Slides
    • All slides should have a unique title to enable easy navigation

Additional Resources

We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience.

By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies, Privacy Information.